Rom. xv. 30. I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.
LITTLE do men imagine how great is the efficacy of intercession11. They seem to think it presump- tuous for one man to hope that he shall prevail with God in behalf of another. And doubtless it would be presumptuous, on a supposition that the interces- sor conceived he should prevail by any power or goodness of his own. But, when God has enjoined intercession as a duty, and appointed it as a means of bestowing his blessing upon men, it is highly be- coming in us to obey his mandate, and to seek his blessing in his appointed way. There is no man who may not be benefited by another in this way. A beggar may bring down blessings on the greatest monarch ; and a very child in grace, upon the most
a If this were a subject for Trinity Sunday, the exordium might be to this effect : We might well expect that the doctrine of the Tri- nity, if really true, would not merely be mentioned in two or three distinct passages of Holy Scripture, but that it would pervade the whole Scriptures, as it were, in an incidental way. And so we find it ; — e. y. the Text.
192(>.l PRAYER FOR MINISTERS. 587
eminent saint. St. Paul, conscious of this, frequently requested his brethren to pray for himb. In the passage before us, he seems to speak as if his whole welfare depended on the prayers of others ; so urgent is he in his request that they would plead in his be- half at the throne of grace. In my remarks upon this request of his, I shall notice,
I. Its extreme urgency —
Language can scarcely express greater urgency than is here manifested in the Apostle's request. Observe,
1. The object of his request —
[" Brethren, pray for me." He was now in peculiar cir- cumstances. He was going up to Jerusalem, to carry to the saints there that relief which he had collected for their neces- sities. But the Jews there were exceedingly enraged against him, on account of his going to the Gentiles. The very saints themselves also were greatly prejudiced against him on this account : for they could not yet see that the Mosaic law was abolished; and, consequently, could not understand how he should so neglect, and discourage, the observance of it. And from this extreme irritation of all parties against him, he could not but apprehend that his life was in danger, and that his labours for the welfare of mankind would be brought to a close before he had accomplished the projects which he had formed. He therefore says, " Pray forme, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judasa ; and that my service, which I have for Jerusalem, may be accepted of the saints, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed." In a word, he desired them to pray for the preservation of his life, the success of his labours, and the extension of his usefulness in the world. Now these are objects for which every minister needs a remembrance in the prayers of his brethren, and which justly call for their most earnest importunity in his behalf.]
2. The manner in which he urged it —
[He " besought " them : and to give the greater weight to his entreaty, he enforced it with the most powerful motives that he could possibly suggest. " I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit." Now what was there which they did not owe to the Lord Jesus Christ, who had come down from heaven for them, and
t> Eph. vi. 19,20. 2 Cor. i. 10, 11.